I’ve NEVER seen a city RFP receive this much buzz before!

The U.K.’s Guardian newspaper games blog writes up the Virtual Decatur idea, which includes this very British description of our city.

Decatur is a bit Hay-on-Wye (it hosts the largest independent book festival in the country) [DM note: Hay-on-Wye is "the town of books" in Wales], and a bit Oktoberfest (check out the annual Decatur Beer Tasting Festival). It’s also a little bit Beach Blanket Bingo.

Regardless of whether you think the idea has potential or not, you must admit that all this free publicity is quite impressive!

Oh, and congrats to Dennis over at Next Stop for getting linked to by the Guardian for his Beach Party photos!

CSD Mom linked us over to an article which references a City of Decatur webpage that details a new and ambitious initiative called “Virtual Decatur“.

The proposal speaks for itself…

The City of Decatur is currently evaluating the use of virtual environment technology to encourage community networking, improve civic engagement, and promote economic development in the city. Immersive virtual environments, initially popularized by games such as World of Warcraft© and social networking sites such as Second Life©, are gaining popularity for use as educational and training tools. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is currently evaluating this technology to promote learning in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Visit NASA’s website.

Similar to other social networking tools, Virtual Decatur will provide an environment in which residents, businesses, institutions and visitors can interact and connect around a common interest. However, it is it is imperative that the project go beyond the features of traditional virtual environments. The overarching purpose of this project is to allow users to interact with the City in new and innovative ways that are not possible in the real world. It is envisioned that the real world experience may be enhanced through participation in Virtual Decatur.

….Virtual Decatur was first conceived as a way to allow residents to experience the look and feel of potential developments in the city. For example, avatars (electronic characters) could walk through and around a model of a proposed parking deck to determine its impact on the community. However, the concept of Virtual Decatur has been expanded considerably to include ideas like allowing businesses to scout locations, allowing avatars to view live City Commission meetings, and promotion of city events.

Read more about it here.

Umm…could I just get the ability to watch commission meetings online?  I don’t need to kill orcs along East Ponce  or fly through a virtual parking deck in the process. 

But seriously, I like the idea of being able to view a potential development “virtually” to get a better sense of it…but all those other aspects?  They seem a bit superfluous.

It kind of reminds me of a story I heard on NPR the other day about “walking around” and shopping online in a virtual mall.